Communications networks are currently undergoing a revolution brought about by the increasing demand for real-time information being delivered to a diversity of locations. Many situations require the ability to transfer large amounts of data across geographical boundaries with increasing speed and accuracy. However, with the increasing size and complexity of the data that is currently being transferred, maintaining the speed and accuracy is becoming increasingly difficult.
Early communications networks resembled a hierarchical star topology. All access from remote sites was channeled back to a central location where a mainframe computer resided. Thus, each transfer of data from one remote site to another, or from one remote site to the central location, had to be processed by the central location. This architecture is very processor-intensive and incurs higher bandwidth utilization for each transfer. This was not a major problem in the mid to late 1980s where fewer remote sites were coupled to the central location. Additionally, many of the remote sites were located in close proximity to the central location. Currently, hundreds of thousands of remote sites are positioned in various locations across assorted continents. Legacy networks of the past are currently unable to provide the data transfer speed and accuracy demanded in the marketplace of today.
In response to this exploding demand, data transfer through networks employing distributed processing has allowed larger packets of information to be accurately and quickly distributed across multiple geographic boundaries. Today, many communication sites have the intelligence and capability to communicate with many other sites, regardless of their location. This is typically accomplished on a peer level, rather than through a centralized topology, although a host computer at the central site can be appraised of what transactions take place and can maintain a database from which management reports are generated and operation issues addressed.
Distributed processing currently allows the centralized site to be relieved of many of the processor-intensive data transfer requirements of the past. This is typically accomplished using a data network, which includes a collection of routers. The routers allow intelligent passing of information and data files between remote sites. However, increased demand and the sophistication required to route current information and data files quickly challenged the capabilities of existing routers. Some efficiencies were obtained by employing new types of processors and devices. However, these processors and devices often require special processing structures that typically cause a redesign of the system to accommodate them.
More specifically, function commands determine the basic operations that may be performed within the system. Therefore, determination of the set of function commands is usually a critical parameter in system design since each command typically has rigidly defined fields within a control register. Definition of these function fields dictate hardware designs for the system. Therefore, a change in the structure of these function fields necessitates a change in the system hardware, which usually is not practical. Additionally, fixed function fields may also limit the range of external devices that may be accommodated by the system. This is especially true as the characteristics of these external devices change.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a way to enhance the use of functions between different devices employed within a communications system that overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art.